French makes a comeback
Despite English being French President Emmanuel Macron’s go-to language when abroad, the leader is on a drive to boost the use of his native tongue. Today, on “International Francophonie Day”, he will set out his plan for promoting global use of French, which he sees as key to boosting France’s place on the world stage
After Brexit, no exit for English
Even after the shock vote of Brexit, English —or at least that simplified, beat-up version known as Globish—is firmly rooted as the lingua franca of the Brussels elite. Officially, along with English and German, French remains a language of business in the EU. French was only the world’s sixth-most spoken language in 2014, after Chinese, English, Spanish and Arabic or Hindi, according to official French figures. To make up the difference, France is looking to Africa for a shot in the arm
Targeting Africa
Macron based his prediction on a study from The International Francophonie Organization which forecast that, due to explosive population growth in Africa, over one billion people will live in French-speaking countries by 2065, second only to countries that speak English. Critics have described the statistics as misleading, noting that not all inhabitants of countries that have French as an official language speak what was once the language of diplomacy
Colonial fears return
Macron is treading carefully, aware that any attempt to foist more French on former African colonies where Paris has a history of propping up authoritarian regimes could backfire, according to AFP. One of the main components of his “plan for French and multilingualism in the world” is investment in education in developing nations, particularly in Africa